Good afternoon GH. It is just past 3:30 p.m. in "The City." As I stare out the Weather Window, all I see is snow. Not all that deep, four or five inches, but the wind is causing drifts all over town. In fact, slightly north and east of GH, I 96 is closed do to numerous accidents, likely caused by the drifting snow. Our current temperature is 9°, but it feels like -5° due to the wind. The forecast for the week calls for temperatures in the teens and snow additional accumulations of snow of about three inches. Windy conditions seem to be the expectation too, so drifting snow will be the daily/nightly norm.

We had such a mild December, that everyone probably forgot how to drive in the snow. That, and too many people rely on their all wheel drive vehicles to get them through, forgetting that their brakes, while often anti-lock, are only marginally better when you don't stomp them and let them do what they were designed to do. I wonder how much of the new technology is covered in driver's education courses these days?

This week promises to be the coldest this year. Yeah, I know, this year is only five days old. But if you count the days that have been part of what we whimsically call winter, November through February, then these will be the coldest days this winter. At least so far.

Sugar the Weather Dog and I eschewed going for our morning sojourn earlier. Too cold for both of us. I know that she would give it the old college try, but if you get her out for a walk and her paws can't handle it, you have to carry her home. There is a reason that I call her our little big dog. While she is short in stature, she is actually about 34 pounds give or take, so carrying her becomes a real task. I've done it in the past, but I was younger and stronger then. Now, I'd have to take refuge and call Mary to come to the rescue of her family. When you are carrying a dog, taking refuge becomes problematical. So discretion being the better part of valor, we just didn't go.

I have been hard at work editing something for Mary. I took a short break to move the snow off the deck and the front porch, but that 15 or 20 minutes outdoors was long enough to convince me that not going out for that morning walk was a good decision.

I watched the railroad workers go by in their truck earlier, checking the rails for parallelism I think. There haven't been any trains for a few days, so checking the rails seems like a good idea. I assume that I'll be seeing or hearing trains later this evening or early tomorrow morning.

Otherwise, that's about all that has been happening. I got in a short playtime with the girls, but that had to be short of necessity, due to my "work schedule."

The sun will set at 5:24 this evening, and I expect, so will I. Ciao.